SHILLONG, Feb 9: Taking a cue from the Assam government, the state government has decided to ease the COVID-induced curbs from Friday.
After a COVID review meeting on Wednesday, Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma said, “Those who are double vaccinated will not require the RT-PCR test while entering the state. We will be lifting the condition of testing for double vaccinated individuals”.
The night curfew will be lifted and schools will be fully functional from Class 1-5, especially in Shillong. For funerals, no permission will be required but the COVID protocols need to be followed, he insisted.
“But there has to be restrictions on the number of people. For large gatherings, public meetings, processions etc, permission has to be obtained from the Deputy Commissioner or the SDO. They will decide on the number,” he added.
The government will allow the entry of the fully vaccinated people into bars, restaurants and movie theaters. However, the odd-even traffic rotating formula for private vehicles in Shillong will continue.
Explaining the government’s decision to ease the restrictions, Sangma said, “We have seen that the COVID cases are going down and the impact of the disease this time around has not been much in terms of fatality rate. We have also seen that the deaths were not directly related to COVID as the people who lost their lives had other serious conditions.”
While efforts have been made to balance between the safety and health of people and the economic conditions and activities, the government strongly felt that normalcy must return, he said.
“We can’t let our guards down. We will take precautions but we need to ease the overall restrictions so that normalcy can return to the state. We all must continue to follow the protocols and keep ourselves safe,” the CM added.